Waterlogged
by Lazerwolf314
Summary: A snapshot of Emily's broken life as a child, seen through the unbaised eyes and distorted glass of her only constant companion.


_This was written for the CCOAC Challenge #13. I must note that it was a fun time trying to write from the point of view of a hermit crab (apparently, they are domesticated…).The challenge to write something from the view of a pet and I received a hermit crab and chose the name Meisha. This is a snapshot of what she sees through her wavy glass and into Emily's life as a teenager._ _Please, let me know what you think and enjoy. :)_

_Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Criminal Minds._

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><p>It was lonely in the tiny tank. Every day passed slowly and everything she saw was blurred from the water. The sights she saw were distorted and out of focus, making it vaguely annoying to try and look out at her surroundings. When she scuttled up onto the sand, she could finally see out into the world she now belonged too. This tiny, tiny world, caged in a square.<p>

But the one good thing of being trapped in this small tank, was the human girl, Emily, who would talk to her each day. Sometimes the girl went on for hours, other times only a few minutes. These moments were the only thing that Meisha looked forward to during her endless hours. Today was no different, although, she was surprised to see the girl with bloodshot eyes and a stunned face.

"I hate them!" The girl growled as she sat at the desk, were the tank was perched. "Why do they have to be so selfish!"

Meisha clicked her claws together and scuttled up onto the fake sand.

"It was my choice. Mine. They don't have a say in what I do. Not anymore. It's not like they even remember when my goddamn birthday is." Emily emitted a sad sigh and rested her head on her arms, watching Meisha watch her.

"I went to the doctors today Meisha." She stopped her clicking and looked up in interest. This had been something that the girl had been mentioning these past few days. Something about a boy and they had slept together (whatever that meant) and now Emily was, in a way, sick. She didn't understand what pregnant meant, but she thought it was what happened when humans breeded.

"Matthew went with me. He held my hand the whole time. I don't know if I could've done it without him. Anyway, it was over really fast. And then we went to the church." The large brown eyes that had been watching Meisha closed and Emily shook slightly. There was a long moment of silence where she crawled from side to side as she regarded her human. Then the dark eyes blinked back open and there was a noticeable liquid in them.

"It was awful. They all just stared at us; at me, with these looks, as if they thought we were invisible or worthless. But Matthew just stared back. I don't know what would've happened if he hadn't stood his ground. After a while, they just continued the sermon as if we didn't exist. I'm used to that anyway. Mom and Dad didn't even notice!" With a rush of movement, the girl shoved a pile of books from the desk, sending them crashing to the floor. The sounds were muffled as Meisha quickly scurried back under the water and under her favourite rock. She buried herself deep before turning to keep watch for anymore danger.

There was a muffled sigh from above her. "Sorry about that Meisha. I didn't mean to scare you." The girl ducked her head to the level of the tank and watched her through the water. "Anyway, at least it's over. I can put it behind me. And the 'rents can go on being their oblivious selves." There was a muffled growl. Meisha, having assessed that there was no more danger, crawled out from under the rock and went about digging herself a new hole.

"Thanks for listening Meisha." Emily got up and walked away. Upon observation, she seemed to fall onto the square thing in the center of the room where Emily usually spent the dark hours.

The hours passed idly as the day went on, Meisah content as she pushed some sand around before scuttling out and resting on the tiny shore. After a while, the door was opened and she watched as the older human woman entered and sat on the bed where Emily was.

"Emily, we need to talk." Meisha recognized the tone and words that the woman spoke. She had heard them before, countless times. It meant that in a few days, everything would be in boxes, she would end up in the moving beast on Emily's lap and then arrive at a new place.

"We are moving. Where?" Emily's voice was muffled as her face was pushed into the tiny square white thing.

The older woman let out a sigh. "Barcelona. We leave the day after next." She reached out and touched Emily's shoulder, who instantly flinched away. There was a long moment of silence where neither spoke, simply avoided looking at each other. After a long time without receiving any response, the older woman rose and left the room. Silence reigned, but a few moments passed before Meisha noted the sound of crying. It was something she was familiar with now.

Time passed quickly after that. People came and went, packing things into large brown objects and removing them from the room. Emily spoke with the boy, Matthew once, bringing him up to the room and spending a long time simply held in his arms. Then he left and was never seen again.

The day arrived that the room was bare and all that remained was Meisha's tank. Her human was told to retrieve whatever was left and leave, but she spent a long time simply looking around the room, as she had every time they would move. Finally, she picked up the tank and Meisha was forced to burry herself as she was jerked around.

Eventually, Emily climbed into the moving beast and settled the tank on her lap, before staring out the window. There was a point when she closed her eyes and leaned down over the tank, whispering the words Meisha had heard before and yet still shook her tiny body. "I don't think I can do this anymore."


End file.
